For example, there is a semiconductor apparatus 1 which serves as a camera module for imaging an object by photo-electrically converting light coming from outside, as shown in FIG. 1A. The semiconductor apparatus 1 is primarily formed by a printed substrate 21, an imaging chip 22, an infrared cutoff filter 23, and a lens 24.
In the semiconductor apparatus 1, electrode pads 22b provided in the vicinity of a light-receiving surface 22a of an imaging device (not shown) located on the imaging chip 22 are connected to inner leads 21a on the printed substrate 21 through metal wire bonding portion 25 and metal wires 26. The electrode pads 22b are disposed on the bottom of a recess 22c provided on the imaging chip 22.
The light-receiving surface 22a which receives light entering through the lens 24 and the infrared cutoff filter 23 has a rectangular shape. However, the light impinges on the imaging chip 22 in the form of a spot extending in a circular range in which the light-receiving surface 22a is included.
Therefore, when not only the light-receiving surface 22a but also the electrode pads 22b are provided within the circular range, for example, light beams 41a to 41c impinge on the metal wire bonding portions 25 which are pressed to be bonded with the electrode pads 22b and the metal wires 26 which are connected to the metal wire bonding portions 25.
As a result, the light-receiving surface 22a receives not only the light entering through the lens 24 and the infrared cutoff filter 23 but also reflected light beams, i.e., reflections of the light beams 41a to 41c impinging on the metal wire bonding portions 25 and the metal wires 26.
In this case, an image generated by the imaging chip 22 may have noises such as flare and ghosts attributable to the reception of the reflected light beams from the metal wire bonding portions 25 and the metal wires 26 at the light-receiving surface 22a of the imaging chip 22.
A first method which is generally used under such a circumstance to avoid the reception of reflected light beams from the metal wire bonding portions 25 and the metal wires 26 is to shield the metal wire bonding portions 25 and the metal wires 26 from the light beams 41a to 41c by providing a shield member 27 as shown in FIG. 1B.
There is a second proposed method in which the reflected light beams from the metal wire bonding portions 25 and the metal wires 26 are suppressed by disposing the electrode pads 22b of the imaging chip 22 apart from the light-receiving surface 22a (for example, see JP-A-2006-013979 (Patent Document 1)).